Ukraine-Russia war: Battle rages in last Ukrainian stronghold as more civilians killed by Russian missiles
Fighting raged for the strategic Ukrainian city Lysychansk on Saturday amid claims that Belarus had intercepted missiles fired by Kyiv forces. More reports emerge of civilians killed in missile attacks.
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Fighting raged for the strategic Ukrainian city Lysychansk on Saturday, as Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said his army had intercepted missiles fired on his territory by Kyiv’s forces.
The battle continues following another Russian strike killed four civilians and injured seven others in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slobyansk on Saturday.
The killings, reported by Slovyansk Mayor Vadym Liakh follow missile strikes in recent days that killed at least 21 people living in an apartment block housing 160 in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa and the shocking Russian strike on a central Ukraine shopping mall that killed at least 20 people earlier in the week.
Claims by Moscow-backed separatists who said they had encircled Lysychansk, the last major city in the Lugansk area of the eastern Donbas region still in Kyiv’s hands were refuted by Ukrainian officials.
Lysychansk is located across the river from neighbouring Severodonetsk, which Russian forces seized last week.
The city’s capture would allow Russian forces to push deeper into the Donbas, which has become the focus of their offensive since failing to capture Kyiv.
“Fighting rages around Lysychansk … The city has not been encircled and is under control of the Ukrainian army,” Ruslan Muzytchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Guard, said on Ukrainian television.
Earlier in the day, Andrei Marochko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, told the TASS news agency: “Lysychansk is completely encircled.” Lukashenko on Saturday accused Ukraine of “provoking” neighbouring Belarus, saying his army intercepted missiles fired at his country by Ukrainian forces “around three days ago”.
The claim came one week after Ukraine said missiles struck a border region from Belarus, a long-term Russian ally that supported the February 24 invasion.
But Lukashenko denied any involvement, which would represent an escalation of the conflict.
“As I said more than a year ago, we do not intend to fight in Ukraine,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta on Saturday.
Missiles continue to rain down across Ukraine, killing dozens. Rockets struck residential properties in Sloviansk in the heart of the Donbas, killing a woman in her garden and wounding her husband, a neighbour told AFP Saturday, describing debris showered across the neighbourhood.
The witness said the strike on Friday was thought to use cluster munitions which spread over a large area before exploding, striking buildings and people who were outdoors.
Strikes on a southern resort town earlier Friday left 21 dead and dozens wounded after missiles slammed into flats and a recreation centre in Sergiyvka, 80 kilometres south of Black Sea port Odessa.
RUSSIAN MISSILES TARGET CIVILIANS
Victims of the Sergiyvka attacks included a 12-year-old boy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation late Friday.
“I emphasise: this is an act of deliberate, purposeful Russian terror,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine’s chief diplomat Dmytro Kuleba said Saturday he had discussed a seventh round of European sanctions against Russia with his EU opposite number Josep Borrell.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine was “suffering heavy losses on all fronts”, listing what he said were military targets across the country hit with artillery and missiles.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky hailed a new chapter in its relationship with the European Union, after Brussels recently granted Ukraine candidate status in Kyiv’s push to join the 27-member bloc, even if membership is likely years away.
The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said membership was “within reach” but urged them to work on anti-corruption reforms.
Norway, which is not an EU member, on Friday announced $1 billion worth of aid for Kyiv including for reconstruction and weapons.
And the Pentagon said it was sending a new armament package worth $820 million, including two air defence systems and more ammunition for precision rocket launchers.
‘GRAINS WILL DRY OUT’
On Thursday, Russian troops abandoned their positions on Snake Island, which had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the first days of the war, and sits beside shipping lanes near Odessa’s port.
The Russian defence ministry described the retreat as “a gesture of goodwill” meant to demonstrate that Moscow will not interfere with UN efforts to organise protected grain exports from Ukraine.
But on Friday evening, Kyiv accused Moscow of carrying out strikes using incendiary phosphorus munitions on the rocky outcrop.
During a daily update, Russia’s defence ministry made no comment on the alleged use of phosphorus.
In peacetime, Ukraine is a major agricultural exporter, but Russia’s invasion has damaged farmland and seen Ukraine’s ports seized, razed or blockaded -- sparking concerns about food shortages, particularly in poor countries.
Farmer Sergiy Lioubarsky, whose fields are close to the frontline, warned time was running out to harvest this year’s crop.
“We can wait until August 10 at the latest, but after that, the grains are going to dry out and fall to the ground,” he said.
Western powers have accused Putin of using the trapped harvest as a weapon to increase pressure on the international community, and Russia has been accused of stealing grain.
CAPTURED BRITS TO FACE FIRING SQUAD
British volunteer fighters sentenced to death face the return of an archaic execution method announced by Russian-backed separatists.
Execution by firing squad has been legalized in the region to carry out capital punishment against foreigners captured fighting for Ukraine and sentenced to the death penalty.
Shaun Pinner, from the UK’s Bedfordshire, has reportedly appealed his death sentence to the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Lawyer Yulia Tserkovnikova said they’ve requested Mr Pinner’s sentence be reduced from death to life imprisonment.
A second Briton, Aiden Aslin, had not yet submitted an appeal, Mr Aslin’s lawyer told Russia’s Tass news agency.
They were both sentenced to death, along with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, after being found guilty of “mercenary activities”.
Another two Britons captured in eastern Ukraine, Dylan Healy, 22, and Andrew Hill, 35, have also been charged with “mercenary activities” and are awaiting trial.
The death penalty by firing squad was outlined in the Donetsk People’s Republic’s update to its criminal code, according to Sky News.
While the DPR has had the death penalty on the books since 2014, there has been no legislation on how to enforce capital punishment. The new criminal code states that it should be carried out by firing squad.
21 KILLED IN RUSSIAN MISSILE STRIKE
Missiles slammed into a Ukrainian apartment building and a recreation centre in Odessa, killing 21 people and wounding dozens more.
At least one child, a 12-year-old boy, was among the victims of the attack, which came a
after Russian troops abandoned positions on Snake Island.
The missiles struck the two buildings in the town of Sergiyvka about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Black Sea port of Odessa, which has become a strategic flashpoint in the now more than four-month-old war.“The death toll in Odessa blast rose to 21,” Sergiy Bratchuk, Odessa deputy chief of district, told Ukrainian television. Thirty-nine people were wounded, including six children.
The strikes were launched by aircraft that flew in from the Black Sea, said Odessa military administration spokesman Sergiy Bratchuk.
“The worst-case scenario played out and two strategic aircraft came to the Odessa region,” he said in a TV interview, adding they had fired “very heavy and very powerful” missiles.
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the strikes but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of engaging in state “terror” blaming Moscow for the missile strikes on the southern resort town.
“I emphasize: this is an act of deliberate, purposeful Russian terror -- and not some kind of mistake or an accidental missile strike,” Zelensky said.
“Three missiles hit a regular nine-storey apartment building, in which nobody was hiding any weapons, any military equipment,” he added. “Regular people, civilians, lived there.”
Sergiy Bratchuk, Odessa deputy chief of district, said on Ukrainian television the strikes were launched by aircraft that flew in from the Black Sea and fired “very heavy and very powerful” missiles.
The strikes follow global outrage earlier this week when a Russian strike destroyed a shopping centre in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, killing at least 18 civilians. President Vladimir Putin has denied Moscow’s forces were responsible.
RUSSIA ABANDONS SNAKE ISLAND
Russian forces have abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island.
The move is a victory for the Ukraine and could loosen the grip of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports.
Russia said it withdrew from the outcrop off Ukraine’s southwestern coast as a “gesture of goodwill” to prove Moscow was not obstructing UN attempts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine.
However, Ukraine claimed it had driven Russian forces out after an artillery and missile assault overnight.
“KABOOM!” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy’s chief of staff.
“No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.”
However, a Ukrainian official in the eastern province of Luhansk described difficulties for Ukrainian forces in the city of Lysychansk on Thursday.
Ukraine’s southern military command posted an image on Facebook of the island, with what appeared to be at least five huge columns of black smoke rising above it.
“The enemy hurriedly evacuated the remains of the garrison with two speed boats and probably left the island,” the post said.
“Currently, Snake island is consumed by fire, explosions are bursting.” Oleksii Hromov, brigadier-general in Ukraine’s armed forces, told a briefing that Ukrainian forces would soon occupy the island, that controls sea lanes to Odessa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port.
Russia’s blockade had prevented grain exports from one of the world’s main suppliers, creating a global shortage, price inflation and risk of famine.
Russia captured the island on the first day of the war.
In a Ukrainian television interview, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian artillery shelled from different directions while the Russian army was approaching from different sides.
“Residents have been told to remain in underground shelters indefinitely as it is very dangerous,” Gaidai said.
An official from the pro-Russian separatist administration in Luhansk province told RIA news agency the Lysychansk oil refinery was now fully controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces, and all roads to Lysychansk were also under their control. Ukraine says the main road out is largely impassable because of fighting, but the city is not yet fully cut off.
PUTIN HITS BACK AT ‘DISGUSTING G7 LEADERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a swipe at western leaders who mocked his bare-chested horseriding, saying that they would look “disgusting” if they did the same.
Putin made the comments during a visit to Turkmenistan on Thursday local time when he was asked about G7 leaders having a crack at him earlier this week.
As they sat down for talks in the German Alps, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that G7 leaders could take their clothes off to “show that we’re tougher than Putin” and “show them our pecs”.
Mr Johnson’s Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau added that they could try to match Mr Putin’s infamous 2009 naked torso pictures with a “bare-chested horseback riding display”.
According to the New York Post, the Russian president snapped back at the G7 participants, suggesting that they could not emulate him because, unlike him, they lead unhealthy lifestyles.
“I don’t know how they wanted to get undressed, above or below the waist,” he said.
“But I think it would be a disgusting sight in any case.”
The 69-year-old president added: “Everything in a person should be harmonious: both body and soul, but for that to happen it’s necessary to stop abusing alcohol and other bad habits, do physical exercise and take part in sports.”
He added that G7 leaders “must work on themselves, but the very fact that they are talking about it is already good, it praiseworthy”.
Mr Putin has been photographed multiple times shirtless while riding a horse, hunting and fishing.
Speaking to Australian reporters in 2018, the judo- and hockey-obsessed Russian leader defended his penchant for topless photo-ops, saying that he “has no need to hide”.
F1 SUPREMO’S BIZARRE PUTIN CONFESSION
Meanwhile, Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has given a bizarre interview where he proclaimed Vladimir Putin to be a “first class person” and vowed he “would take a bullet for him”.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, the 91-year-old business magnate was asked whether he considers Mr Putin a friend.
Mr Ecclestone replied: “I’d still take a bullet for Vladimir Putin. He’s a first class person.
“Unfortunately he is like a lot of business people, we make mistakes from time to time.
“When you make a mistake you have to do your best to get out of it.”
“(The deaths of Ukrainians) wasn’t intentional. Look at Americans moving into countries that have nothing to do with America.”
Appearing from sunny Ibiza, Mr Eccleston then turned on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling him a “comedian”.
“I mean, the other person in Ukraine, I mean his profession I understand, he used to be a comedian and it seems he wants to continue that profession because I think if he had thought about things and made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it.”
The nonagenarian then said the war was not “intentional”.
“I’m quite sure if Ukraine wanted to get out of it properly then they could have done,” he added.
His comments have attracted backlash online and prompted F1 to release a statement.
“The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to position of the modern values of our sport,” the F1 said.
‘GOT BLOWN AWAY’
Russian missiles continued to rain down across Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky said that a missile strike on the southern city of Mykolaiv destroyed a five-storey building, killing at least five people.
The city of Lysychansk in the eastern Donbas region – the current focus of Russia’s offensive – was also facing sustained bombardment.
“The Russians are throwing almost all of their resources at capturing Lysychansk,” Sergiy Gaiday, regional governor of Luhansk, which includes the city, said on Telegram.
“It’s hard to find a safe spot in the city.”
The Lysychansk refinery also has come under attack, he added.
On Thursday, a Moscow-appointed official said a ship carrying grain had sailed from the occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, marking the first grain shipment since the start of hostilities.
“After numerous months of delay, the first merchant ship has left the Berdyansk commercial port, 7000 tonnes of grain are heading toward friendly countries,” Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, said on Telegram.
Ukraine has accused Russia and its allies of stealing its grain, contributing to a global food shortage caused by a blockade of exports in Ukrainian ports.
In Kremenchuk, the town where a Russian missile on Monday destroyed a shopping centre and killed at least 18 civilians, clearing operations continued.
A giant crane was working near the site of impact, and in the rubble-strewn parking area, shopping trolleys piled with clothes and household goods lay abandoned.
At a hospital in the city, some of the wounded recalled the moment of the attack.
“We didn’t hear the sound of the missile – a sudden clap, flash, and we got blown away,” said Petr Ozhereliev, an employee at the mall.
“I guess I lost consciousness, because when I woke up I was crawling out of the rubble.” Western leaders have dubbed the Kremenchuk strike a war crime.
Russia says it hit a depot storing Western arms, and Mr Putin on Wednesday denied Moscow’s forces were responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that 144 of their soldiers, most of them former defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Ukraine-Russia war: Battle rages in last Ukrainian stronghold as more civilians killed by Russian missiles
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